A good mentor can be a great thing to have, but a hard thing to find. Now LinkedIn is attempting to pair those looking for advice from a mentor with professionals willing to share it through a new mentoring feature. It started rolling out in a few select locations this week, with plans for it to go nationwide soon.

For now, all of the available mentors have been hand-selected by LinkedIn (although it will be available for everyone eventually), and they can can set perimeters about that people they’re willing to mentor and on what topics. For instance, a mentor might say they’re open to helping students that graduated from the same college they did or those that are connected within a few degrees of others in their professional network on the site.

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Mentees also have the opportunity to filter what they’re looking for in a mentor, and when there’s a match, the two will be connected on the site so they can message each other. It’s a Tinder-like concept, in that you won’t be able to chat with each other unless you get matched up first. You can also end a conversation whenever you’d like, so if you decide the fit isn’t perfect during your first conversation, neither party is under any obligation to continue talking.

Image credit: LinkedIn

It’s an interesting idea. I know early in my writing career I benefitted a ton from talking to people who had previously been where I was, and every now and then I get emails and phone calls from students at my alma mater trying to get into the field that are looking for advice. I’m always willing to help, but without my old advisor facilitating those connections I’m not entirely sure how current students would find me. Making those connections is hard for both parties, and this could streamline the process a bit.

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And there are definitely tons of career counseling services already that do this for cash. However, when you’re looking for a new gig, free tends to be a much easier proposition. Although the lack of money may make it hard to hold on to mentors that are truly useful. For now, users in areas where the feature is available (which is unfortunately just San Francisco and Australia for the moment) will see the option to become a mentor or mentee on their Dashboard in the LinkedIn app, under the Career Advice tab.

What do you think? Would you use LinkedIn to find a mentor or be one on the platform yourself?